''Official Xbox Magazine'' (or OXM for short) was a British monthly

video game magazine Video game journalism is a branch of journalism concerned with the reporting and discussion of video games, typically based on a core "reveal–preview–review" cycle. With the prevalence and rise of independent media online, online publicati ...

which started in November 2001 around the launch of the original

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...

. A preview issue was released at E3 2001, with another preview issue in November 2001. The magazine was bundled with a disc that included

game demo A game demo is a trial version of a video game that is limited to a certain time limit or a point in progress, which leads to the player buying the game if they liked it. A game demo comes in forms such as shareware, demo disc, downloadable s ...

s, preview

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s and trailers, and other content, such as game or Xbox updates and free gamerpics. The discs also provided the software for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

for backward compatibility of original

games for those without

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and Xbox Live access. As of January 2012, OXM no longer includes a demo disc. In mid-2014, the U.S. version was merged into the UK version on the website, which lasted only a few months until Future plc announced that it was closing its website along with all the other websites that Future has published, including ''

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'' and '' Computer and Video Games''. In February 2015, ''OXM'' and all of Future's video game websites were redirected into GamesRadar. The magazine was shut down in April 2020 by owners Future Publishing, in a review of titles.

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was given as one of the reasons. A Chinese version of the magazine was released at the "XBox Summer Video Game Show" held by Microsoft Taiwan on August 21 and 22, 2004 at the Third World Trade Center in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

. It was limited to 200 copies.

Content

On the Disc (Discontinued in 2012) Each issue originally contained a demo disc with both

and

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is a digital video game download service available through the Xbox Games Store, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360. It focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent ...

games. However, beginning in January 2012, OXM stopped including demo discs, saying "You've told us you don't want the DVD anymore, and we listened....". Each demo contained unlockable content like gamer pics and hidden demos. Gamers could play the games and view the videos on the disc to gain points. The points had another use in which gamers used their points to research and build equipment for the in-game game 'OXM Universe'. 'OXMU' was discontinued in OXM's 100th issue. ;We Heart Xbox :A section in which new games not yet shown to the mainstream public or user-modified hardware such as consoles or faceplates were shown. ;Message Center :Besides showing readers' mail, the OXM crew revealed their 'Top 5' things on their mind at the moment. The 'Top 5' tradition was broken in Issue #85 of July 2008, when the staff instead answered to the question "What's your worst habit - and do you even want to break it?" ;Xbox Next :In this section, upcoming games were highlighted and previewed. ;Features :A section in which games received prolonged previews, or OXM may have an exclusive 6-10 page review for a certain game. There may also be special featured content like Issue #77's '

HDTV High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...

Buyer's Guide'. ;Xbox Now :A section where every Xbox, Xbox 360, and

game, and

downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...

was reviewed. ;Xbox 365 A section which contained Xbox business articles, gaming news, 'Hard Stuff' (a section that reviews contraptions related to an Xbox console), '2,000 Pennies or Less' (a section that showed the best cheap games that can be bought for either Xbox or Xbox 360), the codes of the month, 'Forza Showroom' (a brief column that showed some of the best ''

Forza Motorsport 2 ''Forza Motorsport 2'' is a 2007 simulation racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios for the Xbox 360 console. It is the second title in the '' Forza'' series, and is the sequel to the original '' Forza Motorsport'' (2005) and was followed ...

'' car designs that people have made), a section for competing against the OXM crew in games like ''

Lost Planet ''Lost Planet'' is a video game series of third-person shooters published by Capcom. The series follows a number of protagonists on E.D.N III, a planet in the process of an ice age, as they survive and fight the environment, various alien creature ...

'', ''

Halo 3 ''Halo 3'' is a 2007 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the ''Halo'' franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in 2001's '' Halo: Combat Evolved'' and continued in ...

'', '' Gears of War'', and more, 'Media Ho!' (a section that talked about movies, books, and other items related to games), 'Live Space' (a section which showed gamers' Xbox Live gamertags, 'Ask Dr. Gamer' (a section in which gamers would ask Health doctor, Freddy Chen, gaming related information), and 'The (insert something here) of Xbox' (a section that talked about business and other things of the Xbox gaming world. The column 'The Business of Xbox' was written by

Geoff Keighley Geoff Keighley () is a Canadian video game journalist and television presenter. He was most known for hosting the video game show '' GameTrailers TV'', and for co-hosting the now-defunct '' G4tv.com''. Keighley is also a freelance writer whose ...

through the May 2007 issue, but until 2015, the column was written, on a less frequent basis, by Christ Morris. As of Issue #71, the end page rotated columnists, with guests including game creators

Tim Schafer Timothy John Schafer (born July 26, 1967) is an American video game designer. He founded Double Fine Productions in July 2000, after having spent over a decade at LucasArts. Schafer is best known as the designer of critically acclaimed games '' ...

Denis Dyack Denis Dyack (born July 24, 1966) is a Canadian video game developer and the CEO of Apocalypse Studios. He is also the former president of Silicon Knights, and is a video game designer, writer, director and producer. Dyack directed '' Blood Omen: ...

, and

Randy Pitchford Randy Pitchford is an American businessman. He co-founded the video game development studio Gearbox Software in 1999 and was president and CEO for the company until 2021, upon which he became CEO and president of Gearbox's parent company, The G ...

Staff

UK and US Edition *Editor: Chris Burke *Games Editor: Dave Meikleham *Staff Writer: Adam Bryant *Production Editor: Drew Sleep *Senior Art Editor: Warren Brown

Review system

Until issue #52, the ''Official Xbox Magazine (OXM)'' used a 100-point system, scoring games out of 10.0 with .1 increments. The games that received at least a 9.0 were given an Editor's Choice award. Beginning with issue #53 (Holiday 2005), the US ''OXM'' switched to a 20-point scoring system, scoring games out of 10.0 with increments of 0.5. The UK edition though switched to a 10-point scoring system, scoring games out of 10. This ratings scale was detailed on the introduction page to every issue's review section. A score of 10.0 was not considered perfect, but is called "Classic" and is considered to be "one of those rare and very best of games." ''OXMs review scale did include a score of 11.0 (termed "Mecha Godzilla's Choice") as "Perfect," however the description for that score was "The unicorn. Will never happen. Never." Twenty games received a 10/10 score from OXM, but only ''

BioShock ''BioShock'' is a 2007 first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed by 2K Boston (later Irrational Games) and 2K Australia, and published by 2K Games. The first game in the BioShock (series), ''BioShock'' series, it was released f ...

'', '' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim'' and '' Grand Theft Auto V'' had been given this score by both the US and UK editions. The nine 10/10 games from the US edition included: ''

Fight Night Round 3 ''Fight Night Round 3'' is a boxing video game developed by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to EA Sports' previous boxing title, ''Fight Night Round 2'', which was released in 2005. ''Fight Night Round 3'' was released on February 20, 2006, for ...

'', '' Gears of War'', ''

Fallout 3 ''Fallout 3'' is a 2008 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The third major installment in the ''Fallout'' series, it is the first game to be developed by Bethesda after acquiring ...

'', ''

'', '' Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'', ''

Mass Effect ''Mass Effect'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Casey Hudson, Drew Karpyshyn and Preston Watamaniuk. The franchise depicts a distant future where humanity and several alien civilizations have colonized the known unive ...

'', ''

Gears of War 3 ''Gears of War 3'' is a third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360. It is the third installment of the Gears of War, ''Gears of War'' series. Originally due for re ...

'' and '' Batman: Arkham City''. Whereas the nine 10/10 games from the UK edition included: ''

Grand Theft Auto IV ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2004's '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', and the e ...

'', ''

Project Gotham Racing 4 ''Project Gotham Racing 4'' is a racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox 360 in October 2007. Development history ''Project Gotham Racing 4'' was accident ...

'', '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'', '' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion'', ''

Mass Effect 2 ''Mass Effect 2'' is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in 2010 and PlayStation 3 in 2011. It is the second installment in the ''Mass Effect'' series and a ...

'', '' Halo: Reach'', ''

Portal 2 ''Portal 2'' is a 2011 puzzle-platform video game developed by Valve for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The digital PC version is distributed online by Valve's Steam service, while all retail editions were distributed b ...

'', '' Deus Ex: Human Revolution'' and ''

Mass Effect 3 ''Mass Effect 3'' is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. The third major entry in the ''Mass Effect'' series and the final installment of the original trilogy, it was released in March 2012 ...

''. ''OXM'' also had begun reviewing Xbox Live Downloadable Content (DLC), on a three-point scale: Buy, Fanboys Only, and Deny. The exception was '' The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles'' expansion pack in issue 70, which, due to the game's size, being "much more than a simple map pack" was reviewed on the normal 20-point scale, receiving an 8.5 (Great). (The game was later released as an expansion on DVD.)

Bonus materials

Some disks came with additional material for Xbox games. Early issues' demo disk included a costume expansion to ''

Dead or Alive 3 is a 2001 in video games, 2001 fighting game, fighting video game developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo for the Xbox (console), Xbox console as one of its launch titles. It is the third main entry in the ''Dead or Alive (franchise), Dea ...

'' and Easter eggs unlockable via inputting a code via the controller. Some material seen only available for download on Xbox Live was included on demo disks. Until 2015, most US demo discs included gamer pics centered on a game. *Issue #53 contained the free exclusive beta for ''

Final Fantasy XI also known as ''Final Fantasy XI Online'', is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), originally developed and published by Squaresoft and then published by Square Enix as the eleventh main installment of the ''Final Fantas ...

''. *Issue #67 contained the Wizard's Tower and Thieves Den quests for '' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion''. *Issue #69 contained Chapter 2 for ''

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter ''Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter'' (''GRAW'') is a tactical shooter video game released for the Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows in 2006. As in previous '' Ghost Recon'' games, players command their team while neut ...

''. *Issue #73 contained an exclusive demo for the Japanese RPG ''

Eternal Sonata is a role-playing video game developed by tri-Crescendo and published by Bandai Namco Games. The Xbox 360 version of the game was released on June 14, 2007 in Japan, September 17, 2007 in North America, and October 19, 2007 in Europe. The game w ...

''. *Issue #74 contained an exclusive demo for ''

Beautiful Katamari ''Beautiful Katamari'', released in Japan as , is a video game by Namco Bandai Games for the Xbox 360. ''Beautiful Katamari'' is the fourth game in the Katamari series of games following ''Katamari Damacy'', ''We Love Katamari,'' and '' Me & My ...

''. *Issue #77 contained a special demo for '' Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock''. (The demo is also found in copies of ''

Tony Hawk's Proving Ground ''Tony Hawk's Proving Ground'' is a 2007 skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Vicarious Visions for the Nintendo DS, and by Page 44 Studios for the PlayStation 2 and Wii. ''Proving Ground'' is the n ...

''.) *Issue #80 contained the Harmonix Track Pack 01: 3 exclusive songs for the popular video game '' Rock Band''. *Issue #82 contained the downloadable song ''

Halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * ''Halo'' (franch ...

Theme MJOLNIR Mix'' for '' Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock''. *Issue #46 (UK edition) contained the NXE update for the Xbox 360 dashboard. *Issue #54 (UK edition) contained a ''

Left 4 Dead 2 ''Left 4 Dead 2'' is a 2009 first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve. The sequel to Turtle Rock Studios's ''Left 4 Dead'' (2008) and the second game in the ''Left 4 Dead'' series, it was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox ...

'' Xbox 360 theme. *Issue #116 contained an Assassin's Creed pamphlet.

Podcasts

;Audio Podcast KOXM was the weekly Official Xbox Magazine podcast, hosted by OXM Senior Editor Dave Rudden. The show was previously hosted by Ryan McCaffrey until he left Official Xbox Magazine to work at IGN.

Dan Amrich Daniel Edward Amrich (born 5 February 1971) is an American writer, author, actor, musician, and social media expert. He graduated from Ithaca College with a major in audio production and minor in writing and became a professional journalist and c ...

used to be a McCaffrey's co-host, but he left the magazine and podcast to work at Activision/Blizzard. The audio podcast featured a recap in the week's past events and game releases, two trivia contests (''Name That Xbox Sound Effect'' and ''Stick it to the Dan'' (formerly Dan's Useless Trivia)) for a prize (usually a

tee shirt A tee is a stand used in sport to support and elevate a stationary ball prior to striking with a foot, club or bat. Tees are used extensively in golf, tee-ball, baseball, American football, and rugby. Etymology The word tee is derived from the ...

game), and developer interviews. The show was produced by Andy Bauman. ;Video Podcast Until 2015, the OXM Video Podcast was updated much less frequently, with gaps over a month or more. The video podcast slowed until it was picked up again in the form of Inside Xbox, a short Xbox Live program that OXM became a part of in 2008. The OXM Report on Inside Xbox featured similar video content to the original video podcast, but with more timely information on games such as ''

Gears of War 2 ''Gears of War 2'' is a third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. It is the second installment of the ''Gears of War'' series, with lead design by Cliff Bleszinski. The ga ...

'' and ''

Mirror's Edge ''Mirror's Edge'' is an action-adventure platform game developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2008, and for Microsoft Windows in 2009. Set in a near-future city, the game follows th ...

'' It was posted on Xbox Live every other Sunday.

Awards

On October 12, 2007, the UK edition was awarded 'Best Xbox Magazine' at the Games Media Awards.

References

External links

OXM Official US Website
(archived)
OXM Official UK Website, now TotalXbox.com

OXM Mexico

OXM PodcastArchived Official Xbox Magazines
on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

{{Video Game Critics Video game magazines published in the United States Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Video game magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct computer magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 2001 Magazines disestablished in 2020 Xbox magazines